America's Space
Sentinels: DSP Satellites and National Security

Jeffrey T. Richelson

Lawrence: Univesity Press of Kansas, 1999 / ISBN: 0-7006-0942-3

During much of the Cold War, America's first line of
defense was in outer space: a network of secret satellites that could provide
instant warning of an enemy missile launch. The presence of these infrared
sensors orbiting 22,000 miles above the earth discouraged a Soviet first
strike and stabilized international relations between the superpowers,
and they now play a critical role in monitoring the missile programs of
China, India, and other emerging nuclear powers.

Jeffrey Richelson has written the first comprehensive
history of this vital program, tracing its evolution from the late 1950s
to the present. He puts Defense Support Program operations in the context
of world events--from Russian missile programs to the Gulf War--and explains
how DSP's infrared sensors are used to detect meteorites, monitor forest
fires, and even gather industrial intelligence by "seeing" the lights of
steel mills. These satellites, reveals Richelson, detected Iran's test
firing of a new missile in 1998 and even provided clues to the cause of
the TWA 800 disaster.

Drawing on many previously classified documents and
on interviews with key participants, Richelson provides a wealth of new
information: the use of DSP for detecting intermediate-range missiles,
false alarms generated following the attempted assassination of President
Reagan, the controversial U.S.-Australian DSP partnership, and the role
of DSP in Desert Storm. He describes the Slow Walker and Fast Walker programs
used to detect aircraft for the U.S. Navy and spacecraft for the Air Force
Space Command. And he offers insights into the controversey over what kind
of system will eventually replace DSP.

No other book covers the story of these eyes in the
sky in such absorbing detail. America's Space Sentinels is a groundbreaking
account of a little-known program that has well served our defense needs
and continues to keep a steadying watch on the world. It enhances our understanding
of America's strategic position during the Cold War and the program's capacity
to respond to missile conflicts in the next century.

Praise for America's Space Sentinels

"This is far and away the most comprehensive account of the MIDAS/DSP program
that exists--and I can't imagine it will be superseded soon. It will certainly
become the book on the subject of early warning satellites."
--Gregg Herken, author of Cardinal Choices: Presidential
Science Advising from the Atomic Bomb to SDI

"A fascinating report on a little-known type of military satellite that
still has a vitally important ongoing mission to deter ballistic missile
attacks by 'rogue states' against the United States and its allies."
--Philip J. Klass, author of Secret Sentries in Space
and former senior editor of Aviation Week and Space Technology

"A very significant contribution in the field of intelligence studies
that should attract a diverse readership among persons interested in Cold
War and diplomatic history, national security issues, and the aerospace
industry."
--John Prados, author of Presidents' Secret Wars

"The definitive account, providing extraordinary details of the satellites
and their ground control systems, as well as the bureaucratic politics
that have shaped the development of the system."
--Desmond Ball, author of The Transformation of Security
of the Asia-Pacific Region

"Richelson knows more about these satellites than anyone outside the
U.S. government--and probably more than most inside the U.S. intelligence
community as well."
--Robert Windrem, NBC Nightly News